A young girl asks her papa, "Papa, does France have Chinese Jews?" Her papa scratches his head and admits he does not know. "The man to ask is Philippe Douste-Blazy, M. le ministre des Affaires étrangères !" And off they go to the Quai d'Orsay, where they are received in the salon de la Rotonde by the foreign minister, who asks them their business. The father taps his daughter on the head and the little girl politely repeats her question for the minister, "M. le Minister, does France have Chinese Jews?" The surprised minister excuses himself and walks over to a refreshment station. He puts his head in the refrigerator, sighs, and returns. "Dear child, France has no Chinese Jews," then brightening, "But she does have apple Jews, grape Jews, and orange Jews. Que préférez-vous ?"

Not funny? You're right. For real yucks, you'll want the real M. le Ministre. (Hat tip ¡No Pasarán!)

HAARETZ INVESTIGATES FRENCH FM'S FAUX PAS AT YAD VASHEM

The French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaine reported in its September 14th issue that during the visit of French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy to the new Holocaust museum in Jerusalem's Yad Vashem on September 8, he asked - while perusing maps of European sites where Jewish communities had been destroyed - whether British Jews were not also murdered. Needless to say, Douste-Blazy's question was met by his hosts with amazement. "But Monsieur le minister," Le Canard quoted the ensuing conversation, "England was never conquered by the Nazis during World War II."

The minister apparently was not content with this answer, which, according to the magazine, was given by the museum curator, and persisted, asking: "Yes, but were there no Jews who were deported from England?"

According to an investigation by Haaretz on Sunday, the event actually occurred as described, although no official source was willing to confirm it. ... One of the escorts confirmed on Sunday, on condition of anonymity, that the quotes in Le Canard were accurate, and that they caused great embarrassment. "It's a bit difficult to understand," the source said, "how an educated French person, who was serving in the French government during the huge celebrations of the Normandy landings, does not remember basic facts about the history of World War II...

Ah, M. le ministre carries on the traditions (here, for example, and here) of le ministère.

PFFT (What is this?): Educated French person exemplar 5 | Rayonnement français 0

[M. Sofocleto is seeding blogs with links to his "dark America" blog. What he posted here was a yard of off-topic cut-and-pasted conspiracy hokum. It has been deleted.

We leave his link. If you are so inclined, experience M. Sofocleto's monopoly on the truth. On his bandwidth's nickel.

The Management]

This place sure is dull without zommerex...where did he go?

You don't think that dealing with us can be exhausting? I'm sure it was easier when he had help.

Well done, guy, you made your point!!!

Euh, which one by the way?

What happened to the Jews of the Channel Islands during the Nazi occupation in WWII? The BBC reports.